Registration & Abstract Submission

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Introduction

As nanoscale materials have become easier to synthesize and their basic structures and properties are better understood, their integration into devices with practical utility at human scales has emerged as the next technological frontier. Breakthroughs in energy-related technologies, in particular, are expected from new advances in nanotechnology. The connection between nanotechnology and energy is inextricable—many unique physical phenomena at the nanoscale occur through confinement of allowable states of basic energy carriers (electrons, phonons, and photons). The consequences of these phenomena are critically important in various areas of energy science and technology.

This workshop will bring together leaders from Indian and US institutions, spearheaded by the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) and Purdue University, and will highlight the most promising approaches in harnessing the power of nanotechnology in energy-related research. Real progress at the convergence of energy and nanotechnology will require solutions to many fundamental challenges, many of which are related to the scalability, integrability, and energy transport properties of nanomaterials. As with virtually all challenges related to materials and their integration into useful devices, these problems require contributions from a wide range of traditional disciplines in engineering and the physical sciences.

The topics of energy transport, conversion, and efficiency will serve as cross-cutting themes, while the workshop will be organized according to the following sessions:

• Scalable synthesis of nanomaterials for energy
• Unique energy transport, conversion, and storage processes in nanomaterials
• Functionalization and heterogeneous materials integration for energy
• Nanomaterials and devices for clean energy and energy conservation

This workshop will focus on establishing and strengthening contacts and collaborations among a moderately sized group of key researchers from the US and India, and future mechanisms for extended personnel exchanges.

Sponsors

We gratefully acknowledge support from the Indo-US Science & Technology Forum and the US National Science Foundation’s Office of International Science and Engineering.

Workshop Structure

The general format of the workshops will involve presentations by leading researchers from India and the US in each theme area. These presentations will be approximately 30 minutes each, according to the following format:

• Brief introduction of physical principles (5 min.)
• Current state of knowledge and limits thereof (5 min.)
• Opportunities for new, transformative research and conceptual examples (10 min.)
• Closing and questions (5-10 min.)

Each session will end with a discussion period with full audience participation. After each of the four theme areas has been covered as well as a poster session, a group of participants will plan specific follow-on activities, including drafting of a joint proposal, guided by the following questions:

• What are the grand challenge problems and blue sky opportunities?
• What current activities are most likely to become dead ends? (Does this mean that we shouldn’t pursue them?)
• How can we better cultivate thought leaders in this area through improved education and training?
• What opportunities exist for this group to leverage its existing strengths in an international team that is structured to solve these grand challenge problems?
• How can cyberinfrastructure enhance the interactions and impact of such a team?
• What elements are we missing? (And how/where would we broaden the group to achieve completeness?)

Itinerary (subject to change)

16 April

Location: BD Morgan 121

• 08:30 – 08:45 Welcome by Joint Centre Coordinators
• 08:45 – 09:00 Introductory remarks by Dr. Rajiv Sharma, IUSSTF Executive Director
• 09:00 – 09:45 Professor CNR Rao, “Keynote: Inorganic graphene analogues based on layered materials”
  • with Introduction by Provost Tim Sands
• 09:45 – 10:00 Coffee/Photo (near BNC sign)
• 10:00 – 12:30 Session 1: Scalable Synthesis and Characterization of Nanomaterials
  • 10:00 – 10:30 SM Shivaprasad, “Kinetically controlled spontaneous nano-manifestations of !GaN on Al2O3 (0001) by M.B.E. growth”
  • 10:30 – 11:00 AK Sood, “How flow affects nanotubes and vice-versa”
  • 11:00 – 11:30 M Manfra, “The role of molecular beam epitaxy in nanotechnology”
  • 11:30 – 12:00 M Abu-Omar, “Nanocatalysts for biomass conversion”
  • 12:00 – 12:30 X Xu, “Plasmonic nano-antenna array for parallel nano-lithography and nano-materials growth” (available after 11am)
• 12:30 – 01:30 Lunch (lasagna, salad, drinks, Monica and Angie)
• 01:30 – 03:30 Session 2: Functionalization and Heterogeneous Nanomaterials Integration for Energy
  • 01:30 – 02:00 G Thomas, “Coupled and chiral surface plasmons in metal nanostructures”
  • 02:00 – 02:30 P Bermel, “Photonic nanostructures for enabling high-efficiency thermophotovoltaics”
  • 02:30 – 03:00 Y Wu, “Fiber-based thermoelectrics for woven scalability”
  • 03:00 – 03:30 D Janes, “Branched semiconductor nanowire arrays as anti-reflective structures for photovoltaic and detector applications”
• 03:30 – 04:00 Coffee/Tea + posters (in BNC atrium)
• 04:00 – 06:00 Session 3: Unique Energy Transport, Conversion, and Storage in Nanomaterials (move to MRGN 129)
  • 04:00 – 04:30 GU Kulkarni, “An electrical rectifier based on Au nanoparticle arrays”
  • 04:30 – 05:00 C Narayana, “Tailored nanoparticle synthesis for applications in nanobiotechnology”
  • 05:00 – 05:30 Y Chen, “Graphene-based materials for potential energy applications”
  • 05:30 – 06:00 X Ruan, “Thermal transport in nanostructures: a multiscale multiphysics approach”
• 06:00 – 09:00 Poster (cont’d) + hors d’oeuvres + dinner (7pm) (catered in the BNC atrium)
  • Speakers: Provost Tim Sands, and BNC Director Ali Shakouri

17 April

Location: BD Morgan 129

• 08:30 – 10:00 Session 4: Nanomaterials and Devices for Clean Energy and Energy Conservation
  • 08:30 – 09:00 G Cooks, “Surface functionalization using molecular ions”
  • 09:00 – 09:30 U Waghmare, “Structure, topological defects, vibrations and rippling of graphene, C1-2x(BN)x and !MoS2: First-principles studies”
  • 09:30 – 10:00 A Shakouri, “Nanostructured thermoelectric materials for waste heat recovery”
• 10:00 – 10:30 Coffee/Tea
• 10:30 – 12:00 Session 4, continued
  • 10:30 – 11:00 A Raman, “Atomic Force Microscopy for energy applications – a review”
  • 11:00 – 11:30 R Reifenberger, “Graphitic petals for electrochemical charge storage”
  • 11:30 – 12:00 T Fisher, “Bi-lateral collaboration on nanomaterials for energy: real results and future prospects”
• 12:00 – 1:00 Closing Session, including on joint education programmes and examples
  • 12:00 – 12:45 D Hancock, “nanoHUB-U”
  • 12:45 – 13:00 Co-organizers, “Closing remarks”
• 2:00 – 5:00 Executive session for Joint Centre planning, Location: BNC 1201

Poster Session

Chairs: BNC students Bivas Saha and Guoping Xiong

In addition to the presentations and discussions, the workshop will feature two poster sessions, primarily for students to present their research and to have informal discussions with other workshop participants. All poster contributions should conform to the following:

• An abstract of between 300 and 500 words, provided to the poster session chair (see above) prior to the event in a format to be provided.
• Each poster should fit within a 36 in. (width) by 42 in. (height) space.
• Ideally, the content of each poster should be clearly divided into sections, including abstract, introduction, problem definition (or aims of the work), summary, results and conclusions.
• Suggested lettering size is 3 cm (1-1/4”) for the poster title and 2 cm (3/4”) for names and addresses of authors and section headings, such as ABSTRACT, INTRODUCTION, METHODS, RESULTS/DISCUSSION AND SUMMARY.